Vettel led the first stint from the pole, but Hamilton was right with him when the first pit-stop sequence began, and in turn the Brit had Alonso on his tail.

Vettel was the first to pit on lap 16, and when Hamilton came in a lap later, he got in front. Alonso stopped on lap 18 and he jumped past both of them, only to lose out almost immediately to Hamilton as his tires took a little time to warm up. Almost unnoticed Romain Grosjean's Lotus was close enough to his group to lead for three laps before the Frenchman came in on lap 21.

Over the second stint, Hamilton edged a few seconds clear of Alonso, who in turn opened up a small gap on Vettel. In theory all three could get to the end without stopping again, having used both sets of tires, but Hamilton was the first to confirm that wasn't his intention when he pitted on lap 50, with 20 to go. Everyone expected Alonso and Vettel to respond, but they continued to pound round, and McLaren began to realize that they were not intending to stop.

However, Hamilton's pace on his fresh tires was such that he gradually caught both of his rivals, who were sitting ducks when he got onto their tails. He regained the lead on lap 64.

“It was one of the most enjoyable races that I've had until now,” said Hamilton. “I was just thinking today to finish at the front, as I did in my first win here in 2007, would be very, very special for me--which it has been. I couldn't believe it when I was coming across the line. That feeling inside, it's like an explosion. It's really just incredible.”

Meanwhile, Alonso and Vettel were under threat from others. Grosjean had stayed in touch and having kept his tires in better shape he was able to pass both Vettel and Alonso. The Red Bull driver realized the game was up and came in for a last minute tire change on lap 63.

That dropped him back a few places, while Sergio Pérez also made a one-stop strategy work for Sauber, passing Alonso and moving into third. On his new rubber, Vettel was at least able to catch the Ferrari and claim fourth spot.

“I felt pretty comfortable on the tires and obviously we were hoping to get the place back,” said Vettel. “But as it turned out it was the right thing to go for the second stop. We decided a few laps from the end to do a pit stop--a stop here is not so long, about 15 seconds--and in the end it was the right decision.”

Behind all of this action Nico Rosberg had a relatively low-key run to sixth for Mercedes, beating Mark Webber, who had qualified ahead. Kimi Räikkönen ran a one-top strategy to claim eighth, ahead of Kamui Kobayashi and Felipe Massa, the latter ruining his chances with an early spin.

It was a frustrating day for Jenson Button, who finished a lowly 16th after struggling throughout and making three stops, and for Michael Schumacher, who retired after his DRS wing stuck in the open position--something that is not supposed to happen, as the default position is closed.